


Desperate Deception

by emeraldblack_malfoy



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Oral Sex, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-03-13 14:26:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18942823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldblack_malfoy/pseuds/emeraldblack_malfoy
Summary: When Draco Malfoy makes a decision to deceive everyone he knows, what effect will he have on the war with the Order? Dramione. Will add tags as situations arise in the story. Work in progress.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome lovely readers! This fic was inspired by a prompt from Strictly Dramione and encouraged by a handful of people off of a Drabble I posted in the group. I am thrilled to finally try my hand at writing and looking forward to hearing what you all think over the course of this story! 
> 
> The title for this story was partially suggested by Kayla, one of the wonderful witches that encouraged this work!

 

Now the dark begins to rise  
Save your breath, it’s far from over..  
I’m not giving in  
I will not bow  
I will not break  
I Will Not Bow- Breaking Benjamin

1 September, 1996

* * *

Hermione Granger sat stiffly at the Gryffindor table, her face wrinkled in concern. Where on Earth was Harry? Her eyes met those of her best friend, Ron Weasley, who looked slightly puzzled, then shrugged as if to say, “How should I know?” Harry Potter, the final member of their trio, was currently missing. He had disappeared from their compartment on the Hogwarts Express and never returned. As the moments went on, Hermione continued to grow more anxious. Harry had plenty of enemies and a knack for getting himself in trouble, especially without her level head to keep his temper in check. She just hoped everything was okay...

As if conjured by her thoughts, the doors to the Great Hall eased open to reveal a lone figure. Several people turned to stare as Harry hurriedly made his way to his place beside Ron. As he sat down across from her with a muted thud, she realized the gawking was due to more than just a late appearance to the welcome feast. Hermione gawked at his face in shock. Blood had run down his chin and dripped all over his shirt. Seeing the question in her eyes, Harry harshly whispered, “Malfoy.” Hermione groaned softly, “not already,” she thought to herself. Why did it always have to be Malfoy? Malfoy, with his perfect, pure blood family and hateful mannerisms. Malfoy, with his sneering insults and disgusted looks anytime she came within earshot. As Ron opened his mouth to ask Harry what had happened, Hermione shushed him. “Not now,” she whispered. Honestly, couldn’t they wait until after the Headmaster was finished with his speech? Ron huffed in annoyance, but nodded in agreement.

As Hermione listened to the start of term announcements, she found her eyes drawn to the Slytherin table seeking out the platinum crown of their nemesis. Draco Malfoy sat in the midst of his usual gang, his arrogant smirk visible clear across the room. Crabbe and Goyle sat directly across from him, while Pansy Parkinson sat on his right. On his left side sat Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini held the spot next to him. The students appeared as though they couldn’t be bothered with pretending to care about anything Professor Dumbledore was saying. Just as she was thinking of what a horribly disrespectful bunch of students they were, his eyes met hers. As his silver gaze met her chocolate stare, her eyes narrowed. He met her obvious disapproval with a sneer. She stared back, determined not to look away first. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of their clashing eyes, his gaze moved on to Nott, who was clearly speaking to him.

“Draco,” Theodore Nott repeated for a second time. “Are you suddenly obsessed with Granger, or is there another explanation for your piercing staring contest?” Draco scowled. “Well,” he began, “I certainly wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of looking away first, Theo, but it appears the mudblood won this round thanks to your interference.” Theo laughed softly. ”Don’t worry, I’m sure you will put Granger in her place at the first opportunity,” he replied. He turned back towards Blaise, leaving Draco to ponder his words. Putting Granger in her place certainly sounded satisfying. He smiled as his thoughts drifted off to Granger in her rightful place, in servitude, the only fitting role for mudbloods. He pictured her cleaning his manor, serving at his long, elegant dining table, folding his clothing by hand, sucking his... Draco startled, the smile gone from his face. “Where the fuck had that come from!?” He certainly had no interest in having someone like her anywhere near his cock. What an outrageous idea. Obviously, Theo’s words had had a strange effect on him.

He shook off the uncomfortable feeling of disgust and turned his attention to the high table, just in time to hear the most pleasing news out of Dumbledore’s mouth since he announced the return of the Dark Lord. His favorite teacher was taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts. He smirked, thinking of  all the trouble Potter had been in with Umbridge and imagining the upcoming entertainment. For some reason, Potter insisted on exacerbating Snape’s obvious dislike for him. At least he would have something amusing to look forward to this year.

Hermione smiled and lifted her chin as Malfoy looked away. “Take that, you great bully,” she thought as she smirked in triumph. She listened intently to the rest of the welcome feast and when the students were dismissed she helped lead the first years to their new common room, still feeling victorious.

***

Over breakfast, Hermione listened in silence as Harry related the previous night’s events to her, having told Ron what transpired the previous night in their dormitory. When he made it to the part about Malfoy being a Death Eater, she could no longer hold her tongue. “Harry,” she interrupted in exasperation, “what in the world would Voldemort (she rolled her eyes at Ron’s shudder) want with a teenager? He has numerous influential witches and wizards in his ranks and you you’re telling me you think he is interested in Malfoy?” She could scarcely believe the absurdity of his hypothesis. “You didn’t hear him, Hermione,” Harry insisted. “Malfoy is definitely up to something and he more than implied that it was on the orders of Voldemort.”

  
Hermione was thankful that Harry was forced to drop the subject as Professor McGonagall approached with their time tables. After receiving hers, she bid her friends farewell as she dashed off to prepare for her first class as a N.E.W.T. level student, thoughts of Draco Malfoy and his potential status as the newest Death Eater far from her mind.

***

Draco glanced around the room at the small group deemed worth enough to progress to NEWT level potions. He was delighted to catch a glimpse of Granger sitting alone. Obviously, her incompetent companions were unable to scrap the Outstanding required for this class. He was delightfully thinking of all the ways he could demean Granger while she was undefended over the course of the year when the door slammed open with a bang. Standing in the doorway, looking like the fools they so clearly were, Potter and Weasley paused in embarrassment. As Professor Slughorn delightedly welcomed the newcomers to the class and pointed them in the direction of spare textbooks, Draco scowled. It was just like Potter to be allowed into a class he wasn’t even prepared for by skating in at the last minute. He rolled his eyes as the pair took a seat on either side of Granger. Honestly, how embarrassing for them that a mudblood was the only one of their bad of heroes with any sense at all. He smiled suddenly, remembering Potter’ s altercation with Snape earlier in the day and the detention he had already received. Classic, Potter, he thought. Incapable of keeping his mouth shut and not a subtle bone in his idiotic body.

  
He turned his attention back to Slughorn, who was inquiring about the cauldrons in front of him. He rolled his eyes as Granger identified each potion Slughorn presented. “Swotty fucking know it all,” he thought to himself. As Slughorn called the second to last cauldron into question, Granger identified Amortentia, one of the most powerful love potions. A confused look came over her face as she sniffed the cauldron. “Well my dear,” Slughorn grinned at her, “tell us what it is that most attracts the brightest witch at Hogwarts.” Granger blushed and stammered out, “well...erm...ahh..mint. Yes, there is definitely mint, sandalwood, and...it’s citrus, but also spicy.” She snapped into focus and backed away from the cauldron, the blush on her face brought a smirk to his face. Granger remained flustered as she identified Slughorn’s last potion, Felix Felicis. A flash burned in Draco’s eyes as the thought of how he could get his hands on a vial of the one thing that could be his most useful tool this year, the difference between life and death. He could have laughed aloud when Slughorn announced that one student would walk away with a sample at the end of the class.

  
Draco set out to do his best potion work of all time in hopes of beating out Granger. No one else even offered any competition, he just had to do better than her to receive the coveted vial. As the class continues, he growled and snarled over every change in his potion. No matter that he seemed to do, the potion was just shy of the description in “Advanced Potion Making.” He allowed himself a slight smile as he looked over at the Gryffindor table; at least Granger seemed to be equally frustrated. Her usually unruly curls were currently a bush of total chaos, an absolute frizz filled nightmare. Her hair looked as though his fingers would become stuck if he attempted to run them though the tangled mane. He stopped in his thoughts. Why in the name of fucking Merlin was he thinking about running his fingers through her atrocious bird’s nest? What in the fuck was wrong with him and his inappropriate thoughts concerning Granger?

Across the room, Hermione had not fared any better than Draco on her Draught of Living Death. The color wasn’t quite right, the smell was slightly off, and the consistency was all wrong. She couldn’t understand what was wrong, as usual she had followed every step in the textbook perfectly. Looking to her left, she was slightly mollified to see that Ron’s cauldron was in much worse shape than hers. Perhaps her potion wasn’t so bad after all. She was frantic as Slughorn announced the end of class and walked around to view the students’ work. As he came upon their table, he wore a huge grin as he exclaimed, “Ah! Harry! A perfect draft! You must take after your mother, my boy, she was quite the potion maker herself.” As Slughorn clapped Harry on the back and awarded him his prize, Hermione felt her fury escalate. Since when was Harry better than her at potions!? There was only one person in the classroom more furious than Hermione. As he slammed his belongings into his bag, Draco angrily thought to himself, “Of course. Saint fucking Potter. The luckiest prat of them all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! The first chapter of my first fic. After years of reading and investing my soul into the works of so many authors, I’m taking a dive. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of my beginning!


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming back for another chapter! I hope it is as well received as the first has been so far! I didn't have a specific song or lyric that I was in love with for this chapter so if you think of one, please let me know :) 
> 
> This fic has no beta reader, so all mistakes are my own. Please feel free to point them out so that I can fix them.

 

 

Later that evening, Hermione sat across from the boys at dinner as they talked about the upcoming quidditch tryouts that would take place in just under two weeks. Harry was ecstatic about his promotion to captain of the Gryffindor team and they were already discussing strategies and potential teammates.  Hermione let her thoughts drift while they prattled on, as she had absolutely nothing to add to a discussion about quidditch. She thought about the upcoming homework that she would need to complete over the weekend and wondered which patrol schedule she and Ron would be on for prefect rounds. The previous day on the train, the head boy and girl had mentioned something about adjusting the schedule from the previous year, commenting that they had a plan that should make patrols more effective. She was really looking forward to hearing their new plan, progressive thinking was sometimes hard to come by at Hogwarts.

 

As dinner was winding down, Hermione looked up to see the 6th year Hufflepuff prefects, Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott standing up from the table. She looked over at Ron to see if he was finished eating. He seemed to be shoveling the last bits of his pudding in as Harry discussed potential chasers for replacing Angelina Johnson, the previous year’s captain. Ginny was apparently in the running for the spot and the pair was discussing the fairest way to hold tryouts so that no one would think Harry was just giving spots to old team members or friends.

 

“Ron,” Hermione started, “we should probably get going soon. Are you finished with your pudding?’ Ron looked at her in confusion, “Going?” he asked, “What do you mean?” Hermione stared at him in exasperation. “The prefect meeting,” she reminded him sternly. “You know, the one we found out about yesterday?” She looked at Harry, “The head boy and girl are meeting with every year’s prefects separately this week to give them their patrol schedules,” she explained. “Apparently, they have come up with a great new rotation, so Ron and I will be patrolling on a different schedule than we had last year. “I just hope we don’t have any weekend night patrols this year,” he groaned. “I got so sick of patrolling at least one night every weekend. Hopefully they will make the newer prefects take those shifts.” Hermione rolled her eyes at him as she noticed Padma Patil, a Ravenclaw prefect from their year, making her way across the Great Hall. Anthony Goldstein, the other prefect from Padma’s house, was already gone from dinner. She looked across the room to find that Malfoy was already missing as well, but noticed that Pansy Parkinson, his partner, was still sitting at the Slytherin table.

 

“Are you ready then?” Hermione asked Ron. “Everyone else is already gone from the Hall besides Parkinson, and I don’t want to be late.” Ron turned to Harry, “See you in a bit, mate. This shouldn’t take too long,” he said. “Meet you in the common room after?” he asked him. Harry nodded. “See you.”

 

When they arrived to the lounge used for prefect meetings, Hermione noted that everyone was present besides Parkinson and Malfoy. She had assumed that he would already be at the meeting since he was absent from dinner. She looked wall with the magical clock and noted that the meeting was due to start in five minutes. As everyone was catching up and swapping stories about the holiday, Pansy Parkinson strolled in with one minute to spare. There was no sign of her partner. Hermione rolled her eyes as she thought of Malfoy’s rudeness. He was probably too busy looking at himself in the mirror, she thought to herself. She imagined it would be easy for him to get lost in the depths of his own striking eyes...

 

“ _Get a grip, Hermione,”_ she scolded herself. _“There is nothing striking about hateful bigot.”_ Exactly on time, Malfoy strolled casually into the room as though he had all the time in the world and wasn’t running practically late. Noting that everyone was accounted for, the head girl started the meeting. “We are really excited to present the new patrol schedules to all of you,” the smiling Hufflepuff started. Hermione thought she was so beautiful with her caramel colored skin and dark eyes. “This rotation has been approved by all the heads and by the headmaster himself, so once it is implemented, we will trial it for the remainder of the year. We have had issues in the past with unfair treatment of rival houses, and we believe that we have found the solution to the problem. With this schedule, every person will be responsible for two patrols each week. The rotation has been drawn up and reworked several times over the summer to give us the most fair time slots.” She waved her wand and a rotation table materialized for them all to see. The projection showed a list of numbers 1-24 and there corresponding patrol times. As she looked it over, Hermione noted that it appeared to be a very fair schedule, noticing that the “h” that represented the head patrols had their fair share of patrolling time. She was a little confused by the way the numbers were arranged in the time slots though. At first, she had assumed that each prefect had an assigned number and they were showing their rotations that way, but that couldn’t be right, because some of the numbers were mixed in. The other side of the projection had a list of the prefect names from each house and she noted that the fifth year prefects already had numbers beside their names, 17-24.

 

The head boy, a blond Ravenclaw with a pair of the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen,continued explaining. “As you can see, the patrol slots for prefects are numbered 1-24, each number representing a prefect. The fifth year prefects received their schedules last night. With this rotation, we are hoping to promote some inter house unity while also maintaining a fair outlook on reprimanding rule breakers. So, basically, up until the Christmas holiday, once per week you will patrol with your usual partner from your house. For your other patrol, you will patrol with a member of another house from your year. After the initial adjustment period, once we return from Christmas all patrols will be done with assigned partners. We will be selecting partners tonight. We decided to use a spelled method to decide partners in front of you all so that no one could complain about fairness. The pairs will remain one male and one female. This cup has eight scraps of parchment with numbers 9-16. Each of you will take turns pulling from the cup to be assigned a number. The cup is charmed so that you will not be able to pull the corresponding number to your housemate or someone of the same gender. For example, if Ernie pulls a number, the corresponding number will not be available to Hannah or any other blokes. The odd numbers are charmed to pull for the girls  and their partner will be the ones with the following number. So, if you pull number seventeen, your partner will be the one who pulls eighteen. Everyone understand?”

 

Everyone nodded their agreement. The news was met with strange looks from some students, but no one openly voiced any complaints. “Okay,” the head girl began, “well, if you all understand and there are no questions, we can go ahead and draw for partners. Hannah, would you like to start off?” The pretty blonde reached over into the cup presented to her and pulled out her number. She held it up for everyone to see. “Eleven,” she said. “Great. Padma?” the head boy encouraged her with a smile. Padma reached into the cup and pulled out her number. “I’m number fifteen,” she noted. The cup was held out to Hermione, who pulled number thirteen. She held it up and informed the group of her selection. “Ohhh, Hermione,” Ron laughed. “Unlucky thirteen.” Hermione smiled at him, “Ron,” she replied, “you know I don’t believe in nonsense like that.” The group chuckled, minus the Slytherin students. The cup was then held out to Pansy, who rolled her eyes. “Well it hardly seems necessary for me to draw a number,” she said with disdain. ‘The only odd number left is nine.” She reached into the cup and presented the parchment with number nine written on it.

 

“Well,” the head boy stated, “now that the ladies have made their selections, we can draw for the blokes.” He held the cup out to Ron, who showed the group number twelve. Hermione was a little sad that she would have to patrol someone else, but she definitely appreciated the concept of fairness and was glad that Ron would get to patrol with Hannah. She was personally hoping for Anthony to draw her number. She liked Ernie fine, but sometimes he was a bit much. As Anthony reached his hand into the cup and held up number ten, she felt a little disappointment. When Ernie pulled his number and showed his sixteen, her disappointment was replaced with disbelief. _“No. Definitely not.”_ she thought to herself. This was impossible. This could not be happening. As Malfoy pulled out his number, dread flooded her body. With a bored look on his face, he presented his parchment, and at that moment, Hermione learned how much she could hate the number fourteen.

 

***

 

As Draco watched Macmillan hold up his number, he felt as though a troll was sitting on his chest. He struggled to breathe as he thought about a whole year of patrolling with Granger. He could scarcely imagine how utterly horrible it would be having to spend two hours every fucking week with the swotty bint. He had been so sure that he would be with Patil, it never even occurred to him that he could be on rotation with Granger, the universe was usually so kind to her. He was still feeling panicked as he tried to steady his hand and drew his number quietly. He blamed Macmillan _“Bloody fucking Hufflepuffs could fuck up a wet dream,”_ he thought disdainfully.

 

After a short, uncomfortable silence, the head girl cleared her throat. “Well,” she said with a bright cheerfulness that was obviously fake, “that’s that, then. Patrol partners for the year are: Hannah Abbott and Ron Weasley, Pansy Parkinson and Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy.” She flicked her wand at the projection hovering in front of them and each prefect’s name appeared beside their assigned number. “Errr...thanks all for coming,” the head boy began with hesitation. “After we meet with the seventh year prefects tomorrow night, the timetable will self adjust to include all our new rotations.  For the remainder of the current week and the next one, you will follow this rotation,” at this, he waved his wand and each prefect received a piece of parchment with their patrol times listed. “Directly after the meeting tomorrow night, we will post the completed schedule for the term on the notice board in here. The new patrol will start on Monday, the sixteenth, so make sure you are in here to get your rotation no later than the day before. If no one has any questions, I think that’s all we have for you. This timetable is charmed to vanish after the last person leaves the room, so feel free to take your time checking over things if you’d like. Thanks everyone, and good night.” The head girl followed him in wishing everyone a good night, then the pair stood and made their way quickly to the door. After they had gone, Draco stared at the projection for another moment before standing up and leaving without a word to anyone. Weasley, as usual, was completely wrong. The unlucky number this night wasn’t thirteen, he thought with annoyance, it was fourteen.

 

***

 

The first two weeks of the term flew by quickly. Before Hermione knew it,  she was walking down with the boys on a sunny Saturday morning to watch their quidditch trials.  She would much rather be spending her morning off working on her Transfiguration essay, but she knew if she stayed behind she wouldn’t hear the end of it for days. As they walked down to the pitch, she noticed how nervous Harry seemed to look. “Don’t worry, Harry,” she told him. “Everything is going to be just fine.” He smiled at her, “Thanks, Hermione. I am just worried about making sure I can be a fair captain.”

 

After everyone was assembled, Harry made a short speech about the process of tryouts and made sure everyone knew the team would be chosen on merit and not on friendship. After a long while, and several injuries, the Gryffindor team had three chasers, two beaters, and Harry, of course, as it’s seeker. The only position still to be trialed was keeper. Hermione watched in anticipation, knowing that this was the position Ron had played last year. She knew that Ron was a great player at times, but he also had the tendency to get into his own head rendering him unable to perform as well.

 

When it was his turn to tryout, Ron performed fairly well, but it definitely wasn’t up to his best standard. Hermione could see that he had a very defeated demeanor and he was visibly upset. He looked as though he had already lost his position. As Cormac McLaggen took the rings, Hermione heard him calling up to a girl in the stands, boasting that the position was as good as his. She was infuriated by the way he was so quick to dismiss her friend and by his arrogance. As McLaggen went on with his trial, Hermione grew more anxious for Ron and more irate over the way McLaggen had acted towards her friend. Before she knew what was happening, Hermione had grabbed her wand and with a quick, hidden movement, she whispered a quick _“Confundus.”_ As she saw McLaggen soar the opposite way from the direction of the quaffle, she felt a twinge of guilt and more than a little disbelief. She couldn’t believe she had practically cheated! She was already wondering if she should tell Harry and let the keepers try again. She decided against it as she saw the ecstatic look on Ron’s face. Hermione knew it would just cause problems between all of them and really, what did it hurt. It wasn’t as though anyone would ever know.

 

After the team had finished, the group made their way back up to the common room where Hermione worked on her Transfiguration essay while her friends got cleaned up. When Harry, Ron, and Ginny joined her, she sat her half finished essay to the side and joined them in a game of double Exploding Snap before dinner. She would finish the essay in the morning. For tonight, she just wanted to enjoy the time with her friends instead of worrying about what was coming up the following week: her first patrol with Malfoy.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient as I wrote this chapter! Life was a little busy, but I still finished in time to keep with my promise of a chapter every week!

After putting it off as long as she possibly could, Hermione walked anxiously down to the prefects’ lounge on Sunday afternoon to note her upcoming patrol schedule. She had been dreading having to read the “new and improved” rotation since she had found out which prefect was going to be replacing Ron as her partner. She knew that the system sounded well thought out and much more fair than having students from opposing houses handing out punishments to each other, but the unfairness of her particular situation was just not something she had been willing to accept until today. She knew it would be no good to complain for a new partner, that wouldn’t be fair to the other girls. No, she had drawn Malfoy and she would deal with him for the next year. He was just going to have to learn to be civil and that was that. She was not going to spend the whole year dealing with Malfoy acting the way he had for the past five years. Surely, as a supposedly intelligent person (he was second in their year, after all) he could see that they would have to be able to work together no matter their personal issues.

 

Walking through the doorway, she breathed a sign of relief when the only person in the lounge was Hannah. She looked up from her seat at one of the tables in the room and smiled at Hermione as she walked into the room. “Hey, Hermione,” she greeted her warmly. “How is your term going so far?” Hermione smiled in return and thanked Hannah for asking after her. After a few moments of small talk, Hermione walked over to the section of wall that had the schedule hologram stationed on it. She was pleased to note that her patrols with Ron would be on Tuesday evenings and they would have the early shift from 7pm to 9pm. She breathed slowly as she followed along the chart to find her other patrol time and groaned when she found her place. Why on Earth did they have to make her rotation with Malfoy on Friday nights? She just knew he was going to be unbearable, but weekend nights spent with Malfoy? The further she read, the more dismayed she became. Not only was she going to be stuck spending her Friday nights with Malfoy, but they were going to be patrolling on the late shift from 9pm to 11pm.

 

Hearing Hermione’s groan, Hannah looked up again. “Not looking forward to the new rotation?” she guessed. “You could definintely say that,” Hermione replied. “My patrols with Malfoy are going to be the late shift on Friday nights. I just know he is going to be impossible to deal with.” Hannah smiled in sympathy. “Well,” she began, “overall I feel like the new patrol is a good idea. I’m sorry you had to be paired with Malfoy after the awful way he has treated you, but I can’t say I’m sorry that it wasn’t me.” Hermione could not blame her. She knew that if Hannah had been paired with Malfoy she would have felt bad for her, but it’s not as though she would have volunteered to take her place. “I need to get back to the common room and get these things put away before dinner. See you in class tomorrow, Hermione.” Hermione wished Hannah a good evening as she went out the door then turned to sit at one of the tables. It was really happening. Friday evening she would have to spend two whole hours with Malfoy.

 

***

 

As Draco walked down the hallway, his mind was on more important things than his patrol schedule for the year. He was thinking about his task and how he was going to accomplish it. He had several ideas in mind, but none that seemed promising. Still, he would have to implement something soon. He needed to have progress when he went home for Christmas. He did not relish the thought of having to report to the Dark Lord that he had done nothing for four months.

 

He was thinking about which one of his possible plans to put into effect as he walked up to the prefects’ lounge to get his patrol schedule. He was already dreading the time he would have to spend with Granger over the year. He had been extremely surprised that she hadn’t demanded a new partner with the way he had treated her over the last five years. He supposed it just wasn’t in her to back down from a challenge. Fucking Gryffindors loved making martyrs of themselves.

 

As he walked through the doorway and over to the notice board, he realized that he wasn’t alone in the room. Of course, she would be here. It wasn’t enough that he would have to deal with her presence for the rest of the year, now she had to enroach on his free time. He checked the schedule and noted that he would have the early rotation with Pansy on Monday.  This was definitely good news. The castle was usually pretty quiet on Monday, with everyone dragging around on the first day back to classes after having the weekend off. Scanning the rest of the schedule, he grimaced as he noted his other patrol time. Honestly, who’s tea leaves had he pissed in to warrant receiving the late rotation with Granger on Friday nights? Didn’t those head gits realize he had better shite to do on Friday nights than trample around the castle with a fucking mudblood?

 

***

 

Hermione watched Malfoy looking at the schedule and could pinpoint the exact moment he read their patrol rotation. He went from looking smug to looking completely disgusted. Well, it’s not as though she was looking forward to their partnership so she couldn’t truly blame him. She resolved to at least attempt to develop a working relationship with Malfoy. They didn’t have to be friends, but she honestly couldn’t see spending the entire year walking around in silence or at each others throats. She just didn’t see how it would be possible, but she was willing to try.

 

Hermione cleared her throat and mumbled with hesitation, “Ahem...Malfoy?” She looked up at him as he turned towards her with surprise evident on his face. “Do you have a moment?” He stared at her in shock, as though she had grown a second head rather than opened a conversation with him.

 

“A moment?” he retorted. “What in the name of fucking Salazar for?” His face had finally recovered from the astonishment he had shown and back was his trademark sneer. She really could not stand the way he sneered at her. One more thing they would have to work on.

 

“I would like to discuss our plan for our upcoming patrols. I know that we have never been anything that could even closely resemble friends, but I am really hoping that we can at least be cordial on our rotations. I just refuse to spend the whole year trading scathing insults with you. I also have no interest in walking in silence all year long. I want us to be fair in handing out punishments so that no one is able to lodge any complaints against us. I also would like..”

 

“GRANGER,” Draco roared. “I cannot fucking take this prattling any more. First of all, we do not need a plan. We will patrol, that is the plan. It doesn’t have to be a fucking mapped out, detailed, step by step order of action. This may fucking surprise you, but I am not an unfair wanker. As for cordial, I feel as though that is pretty much out of the question. You can be assured that this is the longest cordial conversation we will ever have so you better get used to fucking silence because I am not spending hours of my life  making useless conversation with a blasted mudblood. Granger, honestly, what the fuck do you think we have to talk about?” His rant seemed to go on as long as hers and by the time he was finished he was surprised by how long he had talked to her. He should have cut her much shorter than that.

 

Hermione sighed as he rambled on. She had really hoped that they could have at least a working relationship of civility but it looked like that was going to be off the table. She lifted her chin and gave him her most stern look. “Nothing, I suppose. I just thought that maybe deep down you weren’t the prejudiced bigot you have always appeared to be. I have no idea why, but for some reason, when you drew my number I thought that maybe this year you could be different. It’s never too late to become a decent person, you know.” As she finished speaking, she walked across the room and through the door, her look of disappointment evident. As she was leaving, Draco laughed. “That is hilarious, Granger. I have no idea why you think I would want advice or friendship from a mudblood, but it is really bloody fantastic.”

 

After Hermione got back to her dorm room, she decided to have a bit of a rest before dinner. She drew the curtains to her four poster and sat on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. She had no idea what had possessed her to go off on those tangents with Malfoy. She couldn’t explain it, even to herself, but she had sworn something was different about him. However sure she had been, though, it appeared she had been wrong. He wasn’t different at all. He was still the same rude, name calling, hateful devil he had been all along. He was probably back in his common room by now having a laugh as he told everyone about how stupid she had been.

***

 

Draco was not in his common room telling tales on Hermione. Draco was, much like his patrol partner, sitting on his four poster with drawn curtains. He sat up to the side of the bed with his hands on his knees as the thought about what had transpired with the mudblood in the prefects’ lounge. He certainly had not been out of order, but he was still surprised by how much of his time he had given to her. She did not deserve his explanations. Hell, she did not even deserve to breathe the same air as him. Was she off her fucking rocker? Offering to be cozy with him all year long. As if he would ever lower himself to be friends with her. She was clearly delusional. He could just not get it out of his head how ridiculous the whole conversation had been. He decided to have a bit of a lie in before going down to dinner later.

 

That was the first time Draco dreamed about Hermione Granger.

 

In his dream, he was kneeling beneath an ornate, black leather bench between pale, creamy thighs with just a hint of a golden hue as he nipped and licked his way around the most beautiful cunt he had ever seen. The taste was so tangy, but sweet at the same time, and he had never had anyone like it in his life. He could tell she was getting so close by the mewling sounds she was making. He had never wanted to see a witch come so badly in his life. When he drew her clit into his mouth and bit down sharply then followed with a suck, he heard her start to come undone. The sounds she made were the most pleasing thing his ears had ever heard. When he looked up, with his satisfied smirk, to watch the last moments of pleasure dance across her face, the breath was knocked out of him as he looked into Granger’s eyes.

 

Draco startled awake, breathing harshly in his bed. He was so disturbed by his dream that he didn’t even realize he had knocked the hangings open on one side. Of course, it was just his luck that Theo was sitting on his bed watching the whole thing. “Nightmare?” he asked with a laugh. “What the fuck are you doing just sitting there and staring at my bed?” Draco demanded. “Do you just sit around watching other blokes sleep all the time? don’t you have anything else to fucking do?” Theo rolled his eyes, “Actually, I was coming to get you for dinner and noticed you were asleep. You looked like you could bloody well use it, so I was giving you ten more minutes, you fucking wanker.” Draco bristled, refusing to acknowledge the slight twinge of guilt that coursed through him. “Yeah, well, okay then,” he replied, sitting up and running his hand through his hair. “Let’s go.”

  


***

 

Before Hermione knew it, Friday evening had rolled around. She had avoided Malfoy even more than usual all week long, determined that she would not be the first to speak after the way he had treated her. She was so sick of him acting so superior to her after five years of proving that she was better in almost every area of the world he thought she didn’t deserve to have a part of. She hadn’t had a tough time of it at all, he seemed to be avoiding her as well. Every time she entered a room, he was looking the other way and he hadn’t even made any rude comments towards her.

 

She had barely picked at her dinner, winning her comments and questions from Harry and Ron about her workload. After assuring her friends that she was fine, Hermione had excused herself from dinner to sit around the common room until time to meet with Malfoy. She was absolutely dreading it. After casting a _Tempus_ charm, she noted the time to be a quarter until nine. Her minutes were rapidly dwindling.

 

Harry looked over at her with a worried frown. “Hermione,” he began, concern evident from his tone, “I just want you to know that I will not allow Malfoy to treat you poorly during these rounds. You don’t have to take abuse from him. I will be happy to follow you around with the cloak and make sure he doesn’t treat you like rubbish.” Hermione smiled gratefully at her friend. “Thank you, Harry, but I am going to be just fine,” she told him. “I will be back before you know it.” As she stood to leave, Ron reminded her that they would be waiting up for her in the common room if she needed anything. She thanked both boys and promised to let them know if she needed help with Malfoy before they would allow her to leave the common room.

 

As Hermione walked through the hallway to the common room entrance, she was considering where she should attempt to find Malfoy. She and Ron had always left the common room together and then patrolled down to the bottom of the castle and worked their way back up, but she had no idea what route he would want to follow. There were several locations she considered that he might plan to meet: the entrance hall, the dungeons, the prefects’ lounge. She was thinking about all the places she would try before she just started patrolling on her own as she walked through the portrait. The very last place she expected to meet Malfoy was outside her own common room and ten minutes early.

 

Her shock must have registered on her face, because he smirked as soon as he looked at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but it hung open in surprise as she swept by him and continued down the corridor. He sprang into action and caught up with her as she reached the staircase. “Oi, Granger, we have to patrol this floor before we go down, or are you not aware of how this works?” She turned to face him. “Oh, are you speaking to me?” she inquired. “I wasn’t aware that pureblood princes lowered themselves to speak with common mudbloods like myself.”

 

Draco frowned. He didn’t know what it was, but for some reason he didn’t like the way the slur sounded coming out of her mouth. It had never bothered him to hear anyone say it before, so he couldn’t quite figure out what his problem with it was. He shrugged off his discomfort. “Regardless, we still have to patrol,” he retorted. “We can patrol from up here down to the lowest parts of the castle, then work our way back to the top to finish.” He turned back towards the seventh floor corridor, assuming that she would follow. “And if I don’t agree with your patrol pattern? What makes you think this is the best route to follow?” she asked. She did not feel the need to comment that it was the route she always took.

 

“It’s the easiest route because we can patrol down, then back up, and then you will be at your common room when it’s over and I can head back down to mine,” he replied. Hermione had no arguments, how could she when he wanted to follow her own plan without even knowing it. “I am surprised, though,” she began, “I would have thought you would want to end the patrol in the most convenient place for you.” He smirked at her. “I guess you don’t know everything, Granger.” He took off down the corridor and she followed.

 

Hermione had decided she would not be going out of her way to make conversation with him. He had been very clear that he still detested her and wasn’t interested in developing a working relationship. She would not beg for civility, but neither would she allow him to treat her poorly throughout the year. She was quite surprised he hadn’t made any more scathing remarks towards her,  but the pair had been silent since their initial meeting. So far, they had made it down to the first floor without incident. They had gotten some strange looks from students as they made their way down the castle, but she tried her best to ignore the sympathetic looks she seemed to get everywhere they went. However, she found them much more tolerable than the leers she received from those with green and silver on their ties. Hermione could hardly believe they were already almost halfway done and hadn’t even traded any insults yet. Maybe her patrols with Malfoy wouldn’t be so bad, excluding the silence.

 

It was just after the ten o’clock curfew when they made their way into the dungeons. After checking all the usual places, Hermione had turned to make her way back to the staircase when she noticed Draco standing at the end of the corridor they had just checked. He reached out and tapped his wand against a certain stone in the castle wall and an entryway appeared. He walked through and Hermione walked quickly to catch up with him, very interested in this secret place she had never seen before. As she walked through the doorway, she took in her surroundings. She was in a corridor that was dimly lit with very few torches. She could just make out the platinum head several paces ahead of her. As she continued on, she noticed that along the walkway, there was a series alcoves spread out. She was so shocked by the discovery of a new place within the castle. She had thought she surely knew every bit of Hogwarts thanks to Harry and his map. She supposed he just hadn’t been that interested in anything that deep in the dungeons...or maybe the original map makers hadn’t known about this secret.

 

As they came to the end of the corridor, she was slightly taken aback when she noticed two figures sitting on a bench in one of the alcoves. The two Slytherins she recognized from the year below her looked up as she approached. They were smiling at Malfoy, clearly expecting him to brush over the punishment they knew they should receive. She definitely was not going to let that happen.

 

“Avery, Selwyn, it is sixteen minutes past curfew,” Malfoy growled at his housemates. “Elaborate,” he demanded. “Well, Malfoy, we weren’t aware that curfew had passed,” the boy explained, brushing his honey coloured curls out of his brown eyes. “We will just be on our way back to the common room then,” he continued as he started to stand. Hermione felt a flash of rage. These two were definitely not getting off that easily. She opened her mouth but Malfoy beat her to it, “Not just yet, Avery,” he replied. “You and Selwyn can also expect to report to detention next Friday night so that we can ensure you don’t make a repeat performance of this week. You will also lose fifteen points for your behavior. Don’t make me have to reprimand either of you again or you will find the punishment much more severe.” The raven haired girl frowned in protest, “Fifteen points?” she exclaimed, her blue eyes shining with anger. “Usually no one takes more than ten for curfew breakers, Malfoy.” Malfoy fixed her with a glare, “Did I say fifteen? I meant twenty. Each. Now get out of here or I’ll make it fifty.”

 

As the couple hurried down the corridor and out the entryway, Hermione stood rooted to the spot. She could not believe how fair Malfoy had been when dealing with members of his own house. She had been sure she was going to have to interfere in order to give a fair punishment. Not only had he been fair, he was perhaps a little more harsh than she would have been. This just simply didn’t fit with the picture of Malfoy she had come to despise and she did not appreciate him throwing her for a loop.

 

Malfoy was currently sweeping through the last of the alcoves just to make sure they hadn’t missed anyone. He was not happy with having to take points from his own house, but he was determined not to give Granger any reason to complain about him. He could still feel her eyes on him and knew if he were to glance her way her mouth would still be gaping with shock. _“Take that, you fucking mudblood,”_ he thought with a smile. As he turned around to walk back down the corridor, he heard her fall into step behind him.

 

As the pair made their way back towards the grand staircase after patrolling the first floor, Hermione was unable to hold her tongue any longer. “Thank you, Malfoy,” she ground out between clenched teeth. “I appreciate your fairness in dealing with your own housemates. I’m surprised you are even aware of the concept of fairness.” She had been doing so well, but after his earlier rudeness, she was unable to resist throwing in a slight along with her compliment.

 

“I think you’ll find that, given the right circumstances, I can be very fair, Granger,” the words seemed to fly out of Draco’s mouth before he even considered holding them back. _“Why the fuck did I say that? It almost sounded like I was flirting with her,”_ he thought, bewildered. He certainly hadn’t meant to say that and he surely hadn’t intended for the words to come out in that sultry tone.

 

Hermione’s eyes widened. What in Godric’s name had possessed Malfoy to use that flirty tone with her? She was unsure how to respond, so she chose not to. The pair continued on their route until they reached the seventh floor, still patrolling in silence. Hermione was relieved that they hadn’t found and straggling Gryffindors in the corridors. After sweeping around the floor, they found themselves back at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Malfoy turned back towards the staircase that would lead him down into his common room Finally, the dreaded patrol was over. Hermione looked over at Malfoy, who, for some reason, was still lingering at the top of the staircase. She whispered the password and as the portrait swung open, she watched him step down into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have made it this far, I thank you. I never imagined people would actually read anything I posted, so I am humbled by the ecouragement so far. I would love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> xoxo- emerald


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who have been waiting for an update, I am so sorry it has taken me so long! My life has been crazy over the last few weeks. I have had weddings, hospitalizations, vacations, changed jobs, all kinds of business. I promise to do my best to ensure you never have to wait this long again!

The next Friday evening, Hermione gathered her wits in order to mentally prepare for her second patrol with Malfoy. She was still in a state of mild disbelief from his behavior the previous weekend. She fervently hoped that this week would be less eventful than the last.

When it was time, Hermione got up from her table in the corner of the common room, tucking her Charms homework into her bag and storing it up in her room. She grabbed a set of robes to throw on over her uniform and headed back down the stairs. Walking through the common room, she waved a quick goodbye to her friends. Ron simply waved back, turning to the game of chess he and Ginny were currently engrossed in, while Harry looked at her sharply and stated, “Don’t forget your promise. You’re to let us know if Malfoy gives you any trouble.” Hermione nodded and continued out through the portrait.

This week, she was less surprised to find Malfoy waiting for her outside the common room. She had wondered if he would be, but had also considered alteratives, especially considering the way he had pointedly ignored her over the last week. Not that they were friendly anyway, but she had noticed he seemed to be going to some effort not to be in the same vicinity as her. Not that she minded in the least, obviously.

The evening passed much in the same manner as the previous week had done, except that when they made it down to the secret alcoves of the dungeons, no students were using the area for lascivious rulebreaking. They continued along their patrol, not having spoken a single word between them throughout the entire evening other than to remind the third year Hufflepuffs they had encountered that they had exactly twelve minutes to get back to their common room if they didn’t want to lose points and receive detention. All in all, Hermione thought it was going better than she had suspected possible when she had first found out he would be her new partner. As they walked along the sixth floor, she longed for the ease of patroling with Ron. She never would have had to endure hours of awkward silence with her best friend at her side. The silence was bad enough, but the feeling of awkwardness was even more intolerable.

She sighed and they continued on the longest patrol of her life. How she was ever going to make it all year in absolute silence she had absolutely no idea. Thank Merlin this patrol was coming to an end. As soon as they had cleared the floor, she turned back towards her common room, so lost in thoughts of civilized conversation that it startled her when he spoke as the portrait swung open. “Oh, by the way Granger,” he drawled carelessly as the door was swinging closed, “happy birthday.”

“What the fuck just happened!?” Thoughts raced through Hermione’s brain at the speed of light. Her birthday had been over a week ago, so naturally, she had assumed all the well wishes were quite over with. How did he even know when her birthday was? Why on Earth did he care enough to bring it up? Why was she still thinking about him? How could she not be thinking about him after that? What did this mean? Why should it mean anything? How could it not? She could scarcely fathom what had come over him. Why did he do it?

“Hermione, is that you?” a familiar voice called out, waking her from the trance she was currently in. She walked into the common room to find her friends waiting up on her. Well, Harry was waiting up for her. Ron was asleep on a nearby couch and Ginny appeared to have gone up to bed already. “Glad you’ve made it back,” he contiued. “I just hate the thought of you spending all that time alone with Malfoy,” he bristled. “Is he giving you any problems at all?”

She shook her head. “No,” she began. “We don’t speak on patrols unless we are interacting with other people. It is frightfully boring, actually,” she reassured him. Harry seemed to take that news very well. Hermione thought about mentioning the birthday incident to him, but ultimatly decided against it. It would only complicate things. Hermione reminded him about the homework due in Herbology on Monday and he smiled at her, reminding her that they still had the entire weekend for homework. She huffed and barely managed to contain her eye rolling. Those boys would never learn.

***

Draco dropped down onto a posh leather sofa close to one of the many windows in the Slytherin common room. He relaxed into the soothing feel and scent of the furniture that had been his comfort for the past five years and let his thoughts take over. He stared out the windows into the deep, dark depths of the Black Lake and considered, for the millionth time since he had received his orders, what he could possibly do to be successful. He knew it was going to be near impossible and that there was a strong possibiliy that he would end up either dead or in Azkaban. He also knew that he had had no choice. Unlike so many others that knew war was brewing and anguished over sides and choices and dark and light and right and wrong, Draco’s choice had been made for him before he was born. The Dark Lord was always his only option, thanks to his father. Well, really, he supposed his grandfather could be given an equal amount of blame. But himself? No, he felt no responsiblity for any of the actions he had taken in regards to his master’s cause. His only options had been to serve or to die, at that was no choice at all.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice anyone was approaching until he felt someone flop down near his feet. He didn’t bother to look over, there was only one person who would dare to use such a blatent lack of regard for his personal space.

“I hope you had a delightful jaunt with our favorite mudblood this fine evening,” Theo laughed at him. “I wonder, what in the name of Morgana’s sweet arse do the two of you ever find to talk about?” Draco rolled his eyes with disdain, “Why in Salazar’s name would I feel the need to converse with a fucking mudblood, Nott? No reason to dishonor my family any more than I am forced to,” he huffed. “Honestly, if there was any way I could get out of being on rotation with Granger I would be utterly delighted, but there is no way I could demand a new partner without arousing suspicion that I do not currently need. Such a shame that the irritating chit did not request to trade, but I suppose she is too fucking noble to shirk me onto someone else, more’s the pity.”

Theo laughed, “Methinks the lord doth protest too much,” he remarked, looking sideways at his friend as he did so. “WHAT?” Draco exclaimed. “You are barking fucking mad, Theo. What a fucking thing to say.” Theo shrugged, “Mate, I’m not trying to take the piss. I honestly just wondered what was up with you and Granger. You spent almost the whole class staring at her during Defense last week. I just wanted you to know that if anything was going on…” Draco cut him off, “Merlin, you are off your fucking rocker, Nott. There is no way anything would ever be going on with Granger and me. I fucking despise her, Theo. She detests me almost as much. I have no idea where you got such a looney fucking thought but put it to rest, you fucking nutter.” Theo caught his eye and Draco wondered if he was imagining the disbelief in the eyes of his best friend, but as soon as he thought it, the disbelief he had wondered about was nowhere to be seen. “Okay, okay. No need to get your fucking knickers in a twist, Malfoy,” Theo commented. “You need me to retrieve the smelling salts for your delicate sensabilities? You look as though you could faint with the thought of dirtying up your flawless bloodline,” he teased.

“No, you fucking prick, I can make it to the dorm just fine,” Draco replied, rising to his feet. “As a matter of fact, I think I’ll head there now. The company in this room is somewhat lacking.” Theo burst out in laughter as Draco made his way to the staircase and started the descent to his dorm room.

***

All throughout the next week, Draco made sure he pointedly avoided so much as glancing at Granger to curb Theo’s ridiculous suspicion. It simply wouldn’t do to give him any ammunition to support his outrageous claims. It certainly didn’t help that for some reason, he couldn’t stop dreaming about her. More often than not, he would wake up with a raging erection after dreaming of Granger, her warm, wet mouth surrounding him, her tight heat taking him in, her nails scraping down his back, her whimpers filling his ears, her curls flirting with his skin...it was more than he could stand. He was absoultely disgusted with himself. His thoughts these days seemed to consist of two equally unpalatable subjects: his task and Granger. The first was certainly no surprise, but he blamed Theo for his mild obsession with Granger. He certainly never noticed her or cared about what she was doing with her feckless morons before Theo pointed out his unfounded hypothesis. He did everything he could to avoid looking at her, but his eyes seemed to seek her out without his consent. He was already dreading their patrol this evening.

Ever since the previous Friday evening, he seemed to be so much more aware of her than usual. He noticed the way her mouth curled up when she was reading difficult directions in potions, he noticed the the way her chocolate eyes flashed golden when she mastered a charm,he noticed the crinkle of her nose when they were working on transfigurations she had yet to master. He wondered if this was the beginning of madness. Had it started out with something so small when his psychotic cunt of an aunt had flown over the line that seperated the sane from the mad? Was he going round the twist? The biggest question of all, perhaps, was why in the name of Merlin he had wished her a happy birthday over a week late. He still had no idea.

If it wasn’t his obervations of Granger driving him looney, it was certainly his task. Here it was nearing October and he was still no nearer to deciding on a course of action. He knew that his time was running short and that he was going to have to go with one plan or another soon. His master would not tolerate inaction for long.

***

Granger didn’t seem at all surprised to see him when she swung through the portrait of that ridiculous singing woman later that evening. They went about their patrols as usual. They came across no one at all on the way down, but ran in to Peeves on the fifth floor going back up. He gave them less trouble than expected before they continued on their route. When they were ascending to the sixth floor, he heard her clear her throat.

“Malfoy, why did you wish me a happy birthday last week?” she asked hesitantly. That had not been what he was expecting her to say at all. He was immediately flooded with anger. “What FUCKING difference does it make, Granger?” he roared. He was slightly surprised by the emotion behind his reaction, but it had already been bothering him for a week. He had been asking himself the same question. Why had he done it?

“Listen, Granger,” he began before she could formulate a response. “It just came out, okay? I certainly didn’t plan to say it and I honestly have no idea why I said it at all, so let’s just forget about it and carry on as usual, yeah?” She stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him incredulously. She stared at him as if he had grown two extra heads. “Malfoy,” she said his name softly, like a caress, in a way he had never expected to hear it and it sent a shiver down his entire body. “I don’t think I can do that until we at least discuss it,” she continued. “There has to be some reason you said it and I don’t think I can let it rest until you at least tell me why.”

She continued to look at him as if she expected some miraculous revelation, like he was going to start fucking singing and hugging her like some sodding Hufflepuff. When he scowled at her she looked slightly disappointed, and he refused to acknowledge how that made him feel. He did not fucking care about the disappointments of mudbloods. What a fucking joke.

“I don’t fucking know why I said it. I don’t fucking care about you or your sodding birthday, so fuck off about it. I will not discuss this any further,” he retorted harshly. He turned and continued on with the route.

By the time they made it to Granger’s portrait he was more than ready for her to scurry back into her den. She had been so unnecessarily difficult this evening. How he longed for his nights with Pansy. They had been friends for so long, discounting their brief stint as a couple, and things were so natural between them. None of this difficulty like he had with Granger.

As she walked away from him towards her portrait, he let out a sign of relief for making it through another night without losing his fucking mind. He was done with Granger for another week. He silently vowed not to think of or look at her until their patrol next week. Just when he was expecting her to disappear from his view, under the open portrait, she turned back to look at him. She seemed to be debating on what to say and just as he was about to cut her off she spoke. “Thank you, Malfoy, for the birthday wishes. So far, eighteen is treating me fairly well,” she called as she stepped into the darkness.

***

October 26th marked the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Students all over the castle were in high spirits, their contagious laughter filling the halls. In sharp contrast to the rest of his peers, Draco felt ill. He was finally putting a plan in motion. He knew there were many factors that could go awry with this plan, but it was the best he had come up with so far. He went down to the village with the rest of the students, blending in as well as he could.

The first step in the plan went off better than he could have ever hoped for. After sitting for a while in the Three Broomsticks, he cast a Disillusionment Charm and slipped into the loo without detection. He had chosen the womens’ loo since he found women far easier to manipulate than men. He had the perfect lookout in Rosmerta, who had been under his Imperius Curse since before the beginning of term. With her to alert him should anything happen, he felt relatively safe hiding in the far corner of the loo without detection until a suitable candidate to assist in his plan showed up.

After a long morning with no success, Draco was beginning to feel panicked. He had been so sure that someone would come along that could assist with his plan, but so far, the only students that had entered had been either too young, too unbelievable, or members of his own house. There was no way anyone would believe some third year Hufflepuff was behind this plan, or a Ravenclaw prefect, and he would never implicate one of his own housemates. That would bring suspicion down on all of them. They were the obvious choice.

The door swung open, startling him out of his thoughts. His ears were trained, focusing on every sound to determine who could be present. He could only hear one set of footsteps. His heart began racing, this could be the moment he had been waiting for! The occupant entered the stall. Under the cover of the door swinging shut and locking, he eased three steps to the right to put himself in the line of visibility. When the stall door opened, he could scarcely believe his luck. Washing her hands and checking herself in the mirror was a seventh year Gryffindor he recognized from the quidditch team, Katie Bell. He couldn’t have been any luckier. After gathering himself to cast the strongest spell possible, he softly whispered, “Imperio.”

***

The chilled air surrounded Hermione and enveloped her with the crisp scents of fall. Walking back up to the castle after Hogsmeade trip with her friends, Hermione was in excellent spirits. despite the dismal weather. She had purchased a new quill from Scriveshaft’s and stocked up on toothflossing stringmints from Honeydukes. The upcoming week would bring one of her favorite holidays, Halloween, and the amazing feast that always accompanied it. Hermione hoped this would put Ron in better spirits, she had noticed that he had been in a bit of a mood lately. It was hard for anyone to be cheerful when Ron decided not to be.

Hermione sighed and thought about what she could do to help Ron be in better spirits. At the moment, walking on her left, he was perfectly happy, but she knew how quickly that could change. Honestly, it was always something with those boys. Just that morning, she had once again had it out with Harry over the so called “Half Blood Prince,” to no avail. Hermione couldn’t explain it, but she just had a bad feeling about him and the spells showcased in his textbook. Harry, as usual, was determined to ignore anything that went against what he wanted to do.

As he walked along on her right, she noticed that Harry’s face was overtaken by a frown and his eyes held the look that she knew would mean trouble at some point. She was sure it was stemming from their encounter with Mundungus Fletcher and the knowledge that he was stealing things from Grimmauld Place. Hopefully she could counter him and keep him from taking actions that were too rash. She decided she would speak to Professor McGonagall about what they had seen when they returned to the castle. Perhaps someone from the Order could keep Mundungus away from Sirius’s home.

Lost in thoughts about her boys and how she could manage the issues they were having, she was startled when she heard harsh voices up ahead. A bit ahead of them, she recognized Katie Bell and her friend, Charlotte. They were definitely in some sort of argument. She noticed Charlotte pointing to a package Katie was opening.

All of a sudden, Katie dropped the package, let out an eerie shriek, and was thrown high into the air, her limbs spread out and her whole body was limp. Just as suddenly as she was thrown, she collapsed to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione watched Harry reach down, “HARRY, NO!” she screamed loudly. He looked at her, confused. “Whatever that is, it must be cursed or enchanted. That’s what happened to Katie. Pick it up by the packaging, nothing happened to Katie until she opened it. Now, we need to get Katie up to the castle.”

Just as Hermione reached for her wand to levitate Katie, Hagrid appeared behind them. After hearing their explanation of what had happened, Hagrid reached down and scooped Katie into his arms. Meanwhile, Harry reached down and grabbed the object Katie had dropped. It was a beautiful necklace. “Beautiful”, she thought, and “deadly.”

While they were rushing up to the castle, Hermione turned to Charlotte. “Where did Katie get that necklace?” she asked thoughtfully. “Did she purchase it at a store?” Charlotte shook her head, “No, it was so strange,” she replied. “She came out of the loo at the Three Broomsticks with it and insisted she needed to see Professor Dumbledore.” Hermoine felt her stomach lurch.”Professor Dumbledore?” she asked, “Why would she need to see the headmaster?” Charlotte shrugged. “I have no idea,” she began. “We were planning to go to Honeydukes and Zonkos. We had stopped in for a butterbeer and she was fine. When she came out of the loo, she was acting all weird and insisting she had to deliver the package to Professor Dumbledore. I kept trying to ask her where she had gotten and tell her that it seemed strange, but she was unreasonable. She wouldn’t listen to anything i was saying. She just kept insisting she had to see Professor Dumbledore.”

By that time, they had reached the front doors of the castle. They followed Hagrid to the infirmary and gave the necklace to Madam Pomfrey. Professor McGonagall rushed in, followed by Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Charlotte repeated her tale for the professors as they began to work on Katie. After she was finished, Professor McGonagall turned to the others and asked them if they could offer any more information. Hermione shook her head and assumed the others were doing the same, but then she heard Harry speak. "I think I may know more, Professor," he started. Hermione looked at him sharply, "Harry, how could you possibly know more? We didn't know anything at all until we came up behind Katie and Charlotte," she said forcefully. "I know that, Hermione, but after I have had some time to think about it, I remembered that necklace. I have seen it before. It was for sale." He turned to the professors. "That necklace came from Borgin and Burkes," he stated. "I have seen it there twice and each time I have ended up there, a Malfoy was inside. I believe Malfoy is behind this, he probably bought the necklace before term and he must be the one who talked Katie into bringing it to Professor Dumbledore." Harry looked around, his eyes shining in triumph, so sure he was finally going to be taken seriously about his suspicions concerning Malfoy. For the first time, Hermione actually took his accusations seriously. Perhaps it had been Malfoy. Perhaps Harry had been right and he had been a Death Eater all along.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said sternly, "I thank you for your identification of the necklace. We will do our utmost to determine if it is the same necklace, and if so, who purchased it from Borgin and Burkes. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that getting any useful information from the owners of that establishment is extremely unlikely. As for your other accusations, I must insist that you cease accusing Mr. Malfoy of any wrongdoing unless you have actual evidence. I will not have anymore harassment of your fellow students. Mr. Malfoy has been in detention with me since shortly after breakfast." She gave him a sharp look. Hermione knew he wanted to continue, but the professor had left no room for arguments.

The students were then dismissed after being assured that they would be informed as soon as there was news about Katie. They escorted Charlotte back to the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room and encouraged her to let them know if they could do anything to help her. The trio then continued their solemn walk to the Gryffindor common room. As they walked along the corridor, the boys began speculating about the person responsible for cursing Katie. After hearing a few theories, some realistic and some ridiculous, Hermione finally spoke up.

“Don’t go jumping to any conclusions, you two,” she cautioned. “Anyone in all of Hogsmeade could have been the one to give Katie that package. It really sounds as though she was under the Imperius Curse, going off of Charlotte’s description. That means we are dealing with someone willing to go to Azkaban if caught. We don’t even know if the one who gave the necklace to Katie was responsible or if they were Imperiused themselves. Plus, the most important thing, they weren’t trying to curse Katie, they were targeting Professor Dumbledore.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Ron muttered sheepishly. “Blimey, that opens things up.” Hermione nodded, “Exactly,” she said lightly, “we could be talking about anyone here.” She looked over at Harry as he opened his mouth, "Harry," she groaned. "You heard Professor McGonagall." Harry tilted his chin stubbornly, "Well, they could still be mistaken. Malfoy could have put anyone up to it," he insisted. They settled down into a corner of the common room and sat without speaking anymore as time passed and students came and went. When it was time for dinner, Ron suggested they head down to try and find something out about Katie. As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed several of the professors were still missing.

Hermione picked at her kidney pie and didn’t even bother to plate herself any pudding. Meanwhile, Ron seemed to eat everything within his reach. He was just finishing his second helping of pudding when Professor McGonagall approached them. Her features were laced with exhaustion. “Miss Bell has been transferred to St Mungos for specialized treatment,” she informed them. “The healers seem to believe she will make a full recovery with time, thank goodness. Is there anything else you three can tell me about what happened?”

Hermione watched Harry and Ron shake their heads in identical motions to hers. “No, Professor,” Harry answered. “We’ve told you everything we know.” Their head of house nodded, “Thank you, Mr Potter. Do be sure to let us know if you remember anything else that could be helpful.” Hermione inclined her head, “Of course, Professor. Thank you for telling us about Katie.” They watched her walk over to the Hufflepuff table and seek out Charlotte.

After they walked up the staircases and entered their common room, Hermione sighed wearily. She couldn’t wait to go to bed after the exhaustion of the day. She bid the boys goodnight and walked up to her dorm room. As tired as she felt, she expected to fall asleep quickly. She had been attempting to sleep for several hours and had heard her dormmates come in from dinner, gossip for a bit, and fall asleep themselves. Finally, after tossing for what seemed like three days, Hermione finally drifted off into a deep sleep.


End file.
